when woof comes to worse

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Jeff Gordon, tech blogger/podcaster for APM, reports on a study which found that a robotic dog was “as effective as a real dog in relieving loneliness and fostering emotional attachment.”

Hold on to your flea collars kids, because I’m about to disagree: Oh, what a pile of puppy poo. (Hey, this is a family blog.)

If you can convince God to let you keep it – even after 12-16 years – by changing the batteries, then you can’t form the essential bond that is born of the irredeemable finitude of life. Everything is on it’s way to somewhere else, and that basic fact of life is what makes our short time together here precious. As one who has loved and lost pets, I assert that it is love – not entertainment – that defines our relationships with animals, and distracts us from the truth that we all die alone.

“We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan.”

“The Once Again Prince” from Separate Lifetimes by Irving Townsend

That being said, I’ll make these allowances for the fleeting consolations of materialism:

We all have mementos of those we’ve loved and had to let go. I have my dog Tasha’s collar hanging on the bed post.

Remember these little guys from the classic movie Silent Running ?

Alright, I’ll admit that it was impossible not to feel attached to Hewey, Dewey, and Louie. But I just don’t think that artificial anything can ever be a substitute for a real little heart, beating at your feet.

4 thoughts on “when woof comes to worse”

  1. Being so close that we can feel the others heart beat is our animal precious connection on this plane, but there are other connections to other forms of life that are just as precious. When we can connect to the trees, the leaves, the earth, the ocean,the stars, and to unseen spirits, we are not alone. I don’t agree with you that we die alone. It just looks that way. The unseen world is full of people & animals just waiting for us to connect to them as soon as we are ready.

  2. I liked your warning.

    “Hold on to your flea collars kids, because I’m about to disagree!”

    That’s rad.

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